On the 31st May, the Irish people will be asked to vote in a referendum on the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, commonly known as the Fiscal Compact Treaty. The YES side in the campaign argue that this is necessary in order to maintain stability across the EU, and the NO side argue that this treaty represents an enshrinement and continuation of the austerity we have faced since 2008. However, both sides, either through ignorance, cynicism or malice, portray the limitations of people's agency and power as the ticking of a box on a piece of paper.

Putting aside the neo-liberal talk of 'stability' for a moment, it is interesting to examine the crux of the NO campaign's argument. The ULA refers to it as the 'Austerity Treaty' in most of its literature and Sinn Fein have put out posters bearing the words 'Austerity isn't working; Vote NO'. There are a number of reasons why this is tactically inept; but primarily, to put across the idea that the agenda of the ruling class, the agenda of austerity and neo-liberalism, can be halted by ticking a box is the worst possible message to disseminate. read full story / add a comment

Hundreds of people from all over Ireland are expected to attend the 7th annual Dublin Anarchist Bookfair which takes place in Liberty Hall, Dublin on Saturday 26th May. The Bookfair, organised by the Workers Solidarity Movement, will consist of a day of meetings, debates, discussions and films and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups. read full story / add a comment

The media frenzy may have settled for now over Cardinal Sean Brady’s failure to pass on information about a notorious clerical sex abuser in his midst but we need to make sure we don’t let this extremely wealthy multi-national chiefdom called the Catholic Church off the hook. read full story / add a comment

Hundreds of people from all over Ireland are expected to attend the 7th annual Dublin Anarchist Bookfair which takes place in Liberty Hall, Dublin on Saturday 26th May. The Bookfair, organised by the Workers Solidarity Movement, will consist of a day of meetings, debates, discussions and films and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups.

On the 31st May, the Irish people will be asked to vote in a referendum on the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union, commonly known as the Fiscal Compact Treaty. The YES side in the campaign argue that this is necessary in order to maintain stability across the EU, and the NO side argue that this treaty represents an enshrinement and continuation of the austerity we have faced since 2008. However, both sides, either through ignorance, cynicism or malice, portray the limitations of people's agency and power as the ticking of a box on a piece of paper.

Putting aside the neo-liberal talk of 'stability' for a moment, it is interesting to examine the crux of the NO campaign's argument. The ULA refers to it as the 'Austerity Treaty' in most of its literature and Sinn Fein have put out posters bearing the words 'Austerity isn't working; Vote NO'. There are a number of reasons why this is tactically inept; but primarily, to put across the idea that the agenda of the ruling class, the agenda of austerity and neo-liberalism, can be halted by ticking a box is the worst possible message to disseminate.

Hundreds of people from all over Ireland are expected to attend the 7th annual Dublin Anarchist Bookfair which takes place in Liberty Hall, Dublin on Saturday 26th May. The Bookfair, organised by the Workers Solidarity Movement, will consist of a day of meetings, debates, discussions and films and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups.